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In the first session of the second day, all-rounder
Mitchell Marsh destroyed a drab Pakistani attack as Australia amassed a massive
first innings lead at Optus Stadium in the first Test of the series.
Helped by a Pakistani onslaught that seemed to be
going through the motions, he made the surface appear flat and reached lunch
unbeaten on ninety.
Marsh, who has dominated on his home pitch for the
Perth Scorchers in the BBL over the years, has enjoyed playing his maiden Test
match at Optus Stadium. Additionally, he supported the decisions made by
selectors to choose him over Cameron Green, a teammate from Western Australia.
After David Warner’s century dominated day one,
Australia resumed at 346 for 5, so Pakistan needed to make an impact with the
relatively new ball, and it fell to captain Shaheen Shah Afridi to get his team
back into the match.
Afridi had three slips at the beginning of play on the
first day after defensive fields were instituted late by new captain Shan
Masood. in the second delivery of the day, he found the perfect length and line
to hit Carey in the pads, but Pakistan sensibly chose not to challenge the
verdict of not out, even though replays showed the ball would have over the
stumps.
Marsh took advantage of a brief ball from rookie fast
bowler Khurram Shahzad, who had impressed with a controlled spell after lunch
on the first day, hitting the mid-130 kph mark. However, he bowled much more
slowly at the beginning of day two, and Marsh and Carey were able to easily
handle his slow speed.
An hour into the first day of play, fellow debutant
Aamer Jamal had stated that Pakistan wanted to bowl Australia out. However,
those ambitions soon faded and their bowling grew more erratic.
Marsh displayed his tremendous batting around the
wicket, especially when it came to the harmless short-pitched deliveries that
were being offered. After he quickly reached his half-century in 66 balls,
Carey’s aggression was evident as he hit two cover drives in three deliveries
off seamer Faheem Ashraf.
Day one saw Jamal take two wickets, but his
performance had been hindered by his tendency to bowl slowly and carelessly.
Despite having far larger expectations at first, local
officials saw the 16,000-person turnout on day one as a good outcome. With
their hometown hero taking centre stage, local fans may be inclined to show up
in large numbers after lunch.